Vacation Stuff

I am very much enjoying my vacation with Callum; one of the many benefits of being a teacher is the time off, and since Amanda is working a few days this week, I have Callum all to myself. Here is what we've done so far: Built towers with his new blocks (and then he knocked them down), Played with his "Little People," fit his squeaky birds into his squeaky birdhouse, sat in his new chair and read books like "The Wicked Big Toddlah," "Just WHAT is Christmas?" and "Moose on the Loose," and tinkled the ivories of Daddy's keyboard. We've been busy. Also, we've managed to squeeze in a few episodes of The Office, get some meat at Joseph's, buy a futon, and take some really good naps. As I write this, Kristin and Anthony are probably minutes away, on route to our house for New Years. I hate New Years. Always have. It sucks. Just saying.

Amanda's all time favorite movie is "White Christmas"--and I dont just mean its her favorite Christmas move....it is her favorite MOVIE movie. Period. I married into a "White Christmas" family, for better or for worse. The biggest plus to this, as far as I can see, is the constant presence on screen of Rosemary Clooney, in my opinion the most beautiful woman who ever lived. To me, she personifies true grace and elegance; she carried herself like a real "movie star," she could sing, and she was stunningly beautiful. I say WAS stunningly beautiful because this is what happened to her..... As you can see, she ate the "pretty" Rosemary Clooney several times over. Yes, I am well aware I am going to hell....but I'll be with all my friends......

Today I had a dentist appointment (no cavities, but my gum recession is so bad that they arent even going to polish anymore when I go to my appointments). By the way--did you know that there is a stark difference in usage between "anymore" as ONE word and "any more" as TWO words? If you are interested, as I am sure absolutely no one is, ask me and I will tell you. I live a very lonely life.....

Anyway, I had my dentist appointment at 1030 this morning, and its like going to parent teacher conferences, since I have had the kids of BOTH dentists, the hygienists, and secretaries. Its fun. Callum had another one of his college girlfriends over to babysit him....haha....this kid is a tru' playa'. Meryl, a recent graduate of WHS and current college student who is home on break, graciously came by to watch the little man while I was scraped and flossed. She's such a great kid, and Callum just loves her. She brought Callum an adorable little Polo shirt....he is quite the lady-killer. So that makes TWO college girlfriends for Callum....haha. I am really lucky to have taught some really wonderful young men and women. And I am even luckier at the way I get to keep in touch with them.....another perk of teaching.

More to come tomorrow......

Christmas 2008 (Part II)

Part 2 of our Christmas celebration involved Callum's Nannie and PB coming up for a visit. Due to the snowstorm a couple of weeks ago, Callum didnt get to see his Nannie or his Papa Goldsmith, so we were excited for a visit. Lynne and George came over to join us for supper, and for this meal I made some baked stuff haddock (with a special stuffing I learned to make when I cooked at Edmund's Restaurant during high school), rice pilaf, and "Goldybeans," which is something I whipped up involving sauteed green beans, bacon, and leeks. Another delicious meal if I do say so myself. Also, we had baked stuffed shrimp from "Fresh Catch" in Mansfield MA, olives, and pepper jelly with cream cheese. I love food. And it shows. Here's our table....

And here's a picture we've been wanting to take for the past 6 months, but havent had the opportunity: Callum's two grandmothers! So....do you think Callum got any attention this past weekend? Hmmmm.....

And when it came to bedtime, Grammy and Nannie worked out a system: Nannie, because she if scared out of her mind watching Callum splash around in the tub like a madman, deferred the bathing duties to Grammy.....and then Nannie dried him off and got him into his PJs. And Nannie got to feed Mr. Callum his delicious snack of sweet potatoes. How fun!
And here is Nannie, probably telling Callum to go clean his room, empty his diaper pail, or tell his daddy to STOP saying "that's what she said"......haha

We exchanged presents with Mom and Bob while Callum took a nap, and then, when Callum woke up, it was his turn to get gifts. Nannie and PB got him this awesome "easy chair" so Callum can hang out and watch Pats game with his daddy (actually, since I am writing this at 845 pm on Sunday, that is a lie....apparently, in the NFL, 11-5 isnt good enough to make the playoffs...especially when you have mediocre .500 times making it out west....and BRETT FAVRE SUCKS!!!!......oh, but where was I?) Well, Callum can watch The Office with his daddy. There...how's that? Anyway, I just can't stand how cute he looks in his little chair! And he loves it. Also, you'll see Callum holding the little "sack" Nannie got him for Christmas; this way, Nannie can fill it up with little toys, games, animal friends, etc. so Callum can open it at Christmas time. Wicked cute!

And look how damn cute this kid is! Sitting in his chair, smiling, holding the remote, "presiding" over his domain.....all he needs is one of his bottles filled with Dooryard Ale, and he's just like his daddy!

And we're really looking forward to Wednesday when Aunt Kristie and Uncle Anthony come up for a visit! We're sure to have fun. And there is also exchanging presents with Uncle Jon and Mel. ANNNNNNDD......Callum needs to see his Papa and Bab-Babs......THEN we can say we've had Christmas with everyone!

Christmas 2008 (Part I)

Well, here we are....Christmas 2008...and it was surely a magical one, with more family, love, laughs, and sodium than you could shake a stick at. I cooked up a storm this Christmas, Amanda would say, and not the least of which was my Toutiere Pie, which is a classic "Maine/Christmas/French Canadian" dish whose secret family recipe is more guarded than Club Gitmo. Yet, using my charm, I was able to cull a recipe or two from the "real" Mainers (and French Canadians) at WHS....and I have to say it was absolutely delicious; I'll probably make it once a week through the winter. On Christmas day, George made a scrumptious fish chowder (despite what Lynne says!!!), and, as usual, outdid himself with the snacks. On Christmas Eve, we hosted our annual dinner celebration, and I made a prime rib (purchased on QVC....that's for you Aunt June!), as well as a new recipe I tried for creamed spinach. Amanda made some delicious cheesy potato casserole, and all was delicious

Grandpop "performed" his annual reading of "The Night Before Christmas," reading EVERY single word of the book VERBATIM (publishing information, bar code numbers, other selected titles. And, as usual, we were all heavily engaged..... And of course Callum enjoyed his delicious Christmas Eve dinner of pureed carrots mixed with mommy-milk....Uncle Jon got to feed him for the first time, and as you can see from the smile, Callum enjoyed his new dinner friend....

And here's the dinner table with Lynne, George, Amanda, and Jonathan (Ensign is in NJ, and Mel is up in East Bum with her family). One thing I can't help both noticing and missing is the absence of our dear Mister Thomas P. Cat, who left us this fall; his bemoaning for table scraps was always a Christmas Eve dinner tradition.....

One special part of the day was a visit from Amanda, a former student of mine who always drops by on her breaks. Callum just loves her....she's his college girlfriend; and he loves the little Santa hat she gave him.

Now I'm looking forward to hanging out outside in all my new Carhartt stuff, making pot roast in my new cast iron Dutch oven, and riding at night with my new ultra-bright bicycle headlights!

Merry Christmas....and more to come....

Christmas Eve 2008

I really apologize about the time its been between blogs lately. With all the holiday goings-on, its hard to keep up with a daily blog. But dont worry...I'll be home all week, and there'll be SO MUCH to write about--Callum's first Christmas, Christmas Day, a visit from Nannie and PB on Friday, a visit from the Favry's on New Years....its going to be SO GREAT. I wish I could invent a time machine so we could spend time with everyone on all the holidays.....or that I could teleport people instantly. But we cant, so we're just happy for all we have and all we have to look forward to. And I'm happy to end a sentence with a preposition.

We got SLAMMED a few days (that's what she's said). But we got a "blizzard," and I can use that word because Kevin Mannix used that word. And if Kevin Mannix uses that word, you know its all good. Eustis Maine, just south of Moosehead Lake, got 40 inches. I got about 22 inches (thats what she said) on Sunday into Monday. I just took pictures yesterday, but shovelling was truly a community effort. Dana, in his enduring generosity, helped me with the snowblower, and I raked off roofs and helped Bill across the street shovel out his walkway and path to his garage; I like this old fashioned neighborhood spirit, and its one plus of living in a neighborhood....but as you can see, we got LOTS of snow. And we had no school on Monday!
Which meant that I could stay home with Sally, who had previously put in to take Monday off for her annual "cookie day," where she stays home and bakes ALL DAY LONG. It was awesome, and I felt so blessed to share a snowy day with Callum, Amanda, Moe Jr, and the oven. (Moe Jr. is our wood stove).

Here's a picture of her "staging table."

And here's the youngest baker, pondering what he should help his mommy make next. Callum is going to be such a lucky little boy, as he'll be taught so much from his mommy--how to knit, how to bake, how to read books in an hour and then forget everything you just read, and how to sew. He'll be very well rounded. And, from his Daddy, he'll learn how to order properly at Ming Lee. Maybe that would be a good blog--exploring the idea of what Callum will learn from his family! Ha. Maybe later. And here's a picture I posted just to make Nannie upset!

After school yesterday, I ran a few "errands," as well as stopping at Oak Pond Brewery to fill up some growlers for Christmas. It was a great spirit--Christmas time, a brewery, a snowy country road in the middle of nowhere...good stuff. I sampled some "Dooryard Ale" last night, and Callum really wanted to try some. NOTE:Callum did NOT drink any beer. He just tried to put the glass in his mouth....like he tries to put everything in his mouth. Plus, he was wearing a lifejacket.

And today, Sally is working from home, its snowing outside, we have cookies to deliver, prime rib and creamed spinach to make, and friends to call. Merry Christmas to all my dear friends and family, to whom I dont tell enough how much I love and how much they mean to me.

For the second year in a row,

I won't get to see my family for Christmas. It really sucks, and its totally due to the weather. Last year, we got snowed out big time, and this year, there just wasnt a way to make it work; on Friday, when we planned to leave for Mass, there was a huge storm down south. And today, when we would have planned to come back to Maine, there's a Nor'easter going on outside up here. As opposed to a Nor'easter going on INside....I guess.....

I really miss my family, and I am really disappointed that this weekend didnt work out; my mom always throws a big "clubhouse style" party on the Sunday before Christmas, and I look forward to seeing family I otherwise never get to see. Plus, this is Callum's first Christmas. So I'm pretty down actually. And it just seemed like nothing worked out this weekend with other plans either. Oh well. But today has been a good day, church had their children's pageant this morning, which is always nice to see. Plus, its just been snowing and snowing all day. I put on a homemade beef stew this morning, and I've been trying to keep the house warm with the stove. We also took a break to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. Clearly, Callum was mesmerized....

Look at how good he is getting at sitting up by himself. And check out those cheeks Last night Amanda surprised me by taking me to Cancun to meet the Garners for some great Mexican food. I ended up seeing some WHS students at the restaurant. The food was terrific as usual, and after, Chris and Michelle came back for movies, games, and gift exchanges. Callum made out like a bandit with some terrific new Sandra Boynton books. Amanda got a fiestaware set, and I got THE OFFICE DVD TRIVIA GAME!!! I challenge ANYONE out there to a duel....I will kick your ass. Bring it on Ponticelli! Here's Chris and I modeling our pants. Chris has some nice yellow balls. Printed on his pants.

I became nostalgic about Christmas this weekend, being as how I knew I wouldnt get down to see my family. Christmas music always played a huge role in my house growing up, and both my mom and dad have an extensive collection of RECORDS. (arent those those black things with grooves in them?) Top records I remember listening to around Christmas include Willie Nelson's "Pretty Paper" album, and Barbara Mandrell's "Christmas at Our House" record. I reminisced yesterday, searching for them on iTunes. This was when life was good....before idiots like Mariah Crapey and Jessica Crapson came out with Christmas albums.

Switching gears, Callum is getting really good at sitting up by himself! Look at this....he even reaches for stuff. One other thing we've noticed lately is how he is beginning to get upset if you take things he wants away from him. Oh goody!

As we were wrapping gifts this weekend, Amanda and I had the discussion about how Callum's gifts will be "divvied up" when he's older--which ones will be from US, from SANTA, etc. She asked me how my parents did it. It brought back a funny memory--my dad always wrote "from Santa," but my mom got a little more....creative. For example, after we reached the age of 12 or 13 or so, the tags STOPPED saying "from Santa," and STARTED saying they were from random people (who were supposed to be a clue for what we were getting). For example, one year I got a microscope, and the tag said "To: Jared From: Mr. Wizard." Or, if I was getting an MC Hammer tape, it would say "From: MC Hammer." If I got a baseball glove, it would say "From: Jason Varitek," and etc. and etc. It was just that "nice touch" that encouraged me to give up any last notion that there was, in fact, a Santa Claus....haha

I dont want any school tomorrow. I mean, I only have two days this week....but I just dont feel like shovelling....

Meanderings 44

First, some tremendous photography done by Michelle Garner and her "engagement camera." She came over last Sunday to take some Christmas photos of Callum "little Dickens" Goldsmith in his two Christmas outfits--from his two grandmothers. The first outfit we had him in was from his Nannie: Black valor pants, black and white checkered shirt, and reindeer vest. I sang his "Moose" song to him to make him smile!

Grammy got him an "Eddie Bauerish" red checkered shirt, along with some fresh Osh Kosh's. But, by the time we had done his "costume change," he was done having his picture taken for a while.....If you blog this picture up, you can really appreciate just how RED this little man's hair is!

And I think he looks so big here!
Now, on to the pissing and moaning.....

1. Did you ever notice that, when considering the religion of Judaism, saying someone is "Jewish" sounds a lot better than saying "he's a Jew." For some reason, using the noun form of the word somehow carries with it the connotation of sounding more negative and pejorative. Think about it: "Milosh is simply Jewish" versus "Milosh is simply a Jew." Jew, just like "Jap," is somehow offensive. Maybe words without a lot of letters are offensive...."WOP" comes to mind too.

2. "He's a self made millionaire." Who are these millionaires who are NOT "self made?" I mean, even if you get your money the lazy way by winning the lottery, you still dragged your fat ass into Cumberland Farms, bought a ticket, and made the effort to watch the news for the winning numbers. Everyone does some kind of work "themselves" to get the money they have. Unless you simply inherit your money from a rich parent or uncle....then you are blanketed with the stigma of never actually growing up, because you're a "trust fund baby." Apparently there's a lot of infants inheriting money. The irony of trust fund babies is that they usually can't touch their money until they are like 30 or 40--when they are clearly adults. Yet, they are still called "babies" all their lives. So, in essence, putting up with this aggravation is "doing" something...which reinforces my notion that EVERYONE is a self made millionaire.

3. Being a weatherman is, quite possibly, the only job in America where you can screw up EVERY SINGLE DAY and still not be held responsible. Well...that and being president......

4. But the thing is with weathermen is that their whole entire profession is left to chance; sure, they try to wow you with all this new age equipment and HD Dopplers and satellites, etc. But, when it comes down to it, and they still "screw the pooch" on delivering you accurate information, they completely take themselves off the hook by giving some simple, juvenile excuse like "well, the storm took a different track at the last minute," or "clearly the storm did what "'I' thought it was going to do the whole time...." And guess what: they're never reprimanded for screwing up. In today's world, with all the technology we have, there really is NO EXCUSE for weathermen to mess up anymore. If there equipment is as good as they brag about it to be, then GET IT RIGHT

5. Another thing about weathermen: They must be such depressed individuals. First, their work consists mostly of "looking" for problems. Which is funny, because of the whole "finding a silver lining in the cloud" thing. I wonder if that's related? Anyway, I digress. Their whole job is spent trying to look for every bad outcome possible. Second, they must get so damn sick of people giving them crap all the time about how they get the forecast wrong or are somehow responsible for the snow that falls, etc. I equate this to the whole idea of waitresses at Vinny T's "having to ask" if their party wants dessert, yet hearing the same BS, unfunny responses every single night about how full the patrons are. Third, they clearly have commitment problems with their rhetoric, and I wonder if this translates into their romantic and intimate lives as well. "Well, there's a chance that I love you, but that remains to be seen," or "I'm going to partly satisfy you later," or "We'll say I'm mostly sure I want to be with you forever." Finally, they must get so depressed using the same, trite expressions all the time: mostly cloudy, chance of rain, partly sunny, high pressure system, low pressure system, etc. There job really must be pretty awful actually.

6. "Hey, I think you're really fantastic....and I swear I'm not just trying to blow smoke up your ass." Will someone please tell me what the hell this means? Who, in history, did actually blow smoke up someone's ass? And why is this supposedly such a pleasurable and pleasing thing that somehow we innately "want?" What a weird, freakish expression.

7. In our completely liberal country, how derogatory and politically incorrect is the universal sign for "handicapped?" The logo portrays handicapped people as WHITE, EMACIATED, CHAIRBOUND individuals. Come on...is that the only kind of handicapped there is? That's such generalization. Like I've said many times: If we're going to let the ACLU run this country, let's let them do it all the way. Dont half ass it, for crying out loud. I was on facebook the other day, and the page I was on asked me to type in a series of letters, in order to make sure I really was a person and not a mass-mailing list, telemarketer, virus inducer, etc. Next to the letters was the "handicapped" logo, for people who had trouble reading or typing the words. And it dawned on me: Just because you sit in a wheelchair doesnt mean you cant type or read, right? C'mon folks. Its 2009 just about. Let's change. How about a nice vermilion "H" or something?

8. I'm absolutely convinced that, at some point in our venerable United States Army's history, there HAD to have been a new recruit named John Parts, Michael Parts, Howie Parts, etc., who, inevitably, was called "Private Parts" by his drill sergeant. And, I'm sure, everyone just about peed their pants--drill sgt included. Think about all the comedy:

"You need to move faster than that Private Parts!"

or

"Stand at attention Private Parts."

or

"Are you ready for inspection Private Parts?"

or

"Private Parts, I want you to take up the rear."

Have a great day!!!

Christmas Traditions Part 2

First, I give you this: My childhood friend Danielle Shaw was doing a scanning project with old pictures; I guess her parents wanted it for Christmas or something. Anyway, she wrote to me to tell me that all these old pictures were on her facebook account. Kris and I were so lucky to grow up in such a great, wholesome, and loving neighborhood. From left to right, you've got yours truly (the ninja who looks like he just crapped himself), Mikey Shaw, my sister the gypsy, and Danielle the kitty cat. And, in the background, is none other than Ms "Cha-Cha" herself--my mom. Or its Matt Fox. Either way....

Anyway, a good trip down memory lane.

Amanda does such an awesome job decorating the house that I wanted to show some of you out-of-staters just how nice our home looks. Last year, I posted a photo of our manger set, which was made by a friend of ours, who makes his living as a farrier (sp?). This is a person who makes horseshoes, and he made all our manger figures out of horseshoe nails. This year, Amanda decided Callum needed his own little manger, complete with fat little wisemen that could be inserted into little mouths....


Our tree really looks great, and it still smells nice too. I couldnt possibly photograph every little trinket, but I wanted you to get the "big picture." Amanda even slung holly and poinsettia flowers over all the window treatment thingys (I dont know what they are called, but you can see them, right?)

And my favorite part (besides the tree) would have to be our "grand staircase." Ha ha. I absolutely LOVE the nutcrackers (and some of them are worth quite a bit!) that "preside" on the steps. And I love how garland and holly berries adorn the banisters. Very classy. You can tell I have nothing to do with the decorating....

Grandpop leaves on Wednesday for New Jersey, where he'll spend Christmas with the Doveys and Chiemiegos. We'll miss him. But he came by last night to enjoy some Asian Cafe, and I snapped this picture of Ensign and "future Ensign" sharing a moment. I just love this picture--Callum is so focused on his "P-Pop." Callum is very lucky to have both been loved and held by two of his great grandparents. I never knew any of my greats, and neither did Amanda. So Callum, grandpop, and Amanda and I are all very blessed to see this happen.

So how about that picture of my mom?

I think next I'll write about Christmas movies....not just the "mainstream" ones, but the "cult classics." I will not, however, write about Christmas albums....Christmas albums are where recording artists go to die. Except NKOTB--whose Christmas album kicked ASS!

Christmas Traditions

Last night we took Callum to the land of Kringleville....a far away land very close to the Waterville Opera House. There, Callum met Santa Claus for the first time, and loved every minute of it. He did not cry. He did, however, study the heck out of his face and beard, even touching his beard a few times, The setup they have in Kringleville is very nice indeed....its like a little "cabin" that sits in a little park outside the opera house, and inside, Santa's lair is decorated beautifully, with trees, nutcrackers, gas log fireplaces, and one of the best looking Santa's I've ever seen! We bought copies of both of the pictures for five bucks each and, since we dont have a scanner, "took" pictures of the pictures to share with you. So, I'm sorry about the resolution....

What is Callum looking at???
Another one of our family's traditions is that of changing the Advent calendar. The Advent calendar counts down the season of Advent, starting with Dec 1, and ending on the 24th. Each "day" has a different door, and, usually, in each door is a piece of candy, etc. But THIS ONE, which Amanda bought last week (and which is pretty awesome!) contains, behind each door, a figure, animal, etc. to be stuck onto the magnetic board surrounding the Advent doors. By the end of Advent, the magnetic board will be full of wise men, lambs, donkeys, shepherds, and, ultimately, the baby Jesus.

We make it our morning ritual, trying to do it before we do anything else! It is so wonderful and magical starting these family traditions together!

And, after Callum carefully inspects each piece by putting it in his mouth, he helps stick it on the magnet board. He's getting really good at his manual dexterity!

This is Amanda, doing what she's been doing for the past week and a half--which is DECORATING! She does such an awesome job that even I, in my shroud of OCDedness, can't complain at the clutter, coziness, and crowdedness that IS our house--nutcrackers, candles, garland, trees, mangers, and a million other hanging things that have transformed our house into a true country Christmas home. Terrific job honey, the house looks amazing.

I will post some pictures of her wondrous decorating tomorrow.

Also, tonight was our annual Christmas party, a little different than last year due to the kids everyone keeps having! haha. But still a great time with great friends. More on this too!

Another Jumparoo video....

Here is a new video Sally took today while she was working from home. As you can see, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is feeling just fine. If you dont want to watch it, then dont. I know the grandparents, Auntie KK, and Uncle Twon will want to see it, since they dont get to see him that often.

He has so much fun in this thing! And he is very much enjoying his daily meal of rice cereal. This weekend, he is going to get some veggies! Fun!

Copeland St Christmas

Its a strange feature of the human mind that--when the holiday season arrives--we tend to think of those we have lost, those we have loved, and those no longer with us. Surely these people have infiltrated every facet of our day to day lives....but, for some reason, its the Christmas season we seem to remember most. Why don't the other 330 days or so bring the same clarity--the same emotions--as they ones ranging from Thanksgiving to Christmas? One of the mysteries of love that science can't explain, I guess....

We're swarmed with memories during the holiday season, and I, personally, think first to Nana Courtney's annual Christmas party. Nana never owned her own house--and the financial, family, and "luck" ramifications of WHY could fill a week's worth of these blogs I write. Suffice to say that for Nana, money was always tight. Without sounding too overly sentimental, Nana Courtney showed us that Christmas wasnt about gifts or money or "stuff." Her parties were always held (originally TWO full weeks before Christmas...although my mom will say "you're crazy...it was always the Sunday before Christmas") in her small apartments; in my lifetime, she lived in three different ones, and each once was responsible for its own traditions. Family packed the small abodes like sardines--Nana had five children, and each of those kids had at least two kids (some had five themselves), and there were always "distant" cousins, uncles, aunts, great uncles and aunts, friends, and more who came by and jockied for a seat on one of the few couches or chairs.

Nana always made THREE things to eat (that I remember). Two I hated: Her "Merry Cheese Squares" and her sedimentary rock based chocolate brownies. But I love thinking back to those desserts. The third item--and my all time favorite--was her famous sweet and sour meatballs. After she died, I made a vow to make them each and every year around Christmas--and I'll make them next weekend for a party, in fact.

Nana had something like 25 grandkids by the time all was said and done, and to each of those grandkids she gave a check for 50 dollars (unless you were under the age of 13, which meant you got a toy present!). But the second gift she gave to each of the kids was what my sister and I used to call our "junk-pack." Although its long been closed, there was a Mass. based store called Paperama, which was a party/paper/discount everything sort of department store. It was awesome! And Nana would go there and buy all kinds of crap, divvy it up, and then wrap it. But how fun it was to open--both for the adventure of seeing what you got, and for the way it lent itself to be made fun of by the grandkids (in a loving and healthy way, of course). Here is what you could find in your junk-pack: Thermal socks, black Thinsulate gloves, scotch tape, two candy canes, a pad of doodle paper, a pack of crayons, lip gloss, hand lotion, white athletic socks with orange or red stripes by the top, 4 or 5 Hershey's Kisses, hair gel or shampoo, a coloring book, glitter, pencils, an orange winter hat, and lifesavers in that "storybook" package they sometimes came in around the holidays. One time, and this must have been a great year, she gave us each a McDonalds gift certificate too. Happy times.

Santa would always come, and, probably 76 years before I was born, Nana purchased a Santa costume--I say 76 years, because thats how good it looked. I have no idea who played Santa when I was a kid, but I do know that I myself played him a few times. Santa would deliver the gifts to all the grandchildren--gifts given by specific aunts and uncles who "drew" that particular grandkid in a "grab." Looking to bring equality to the gift giving, it was later decided that each uncle and aunt would get a special "gift" from the kid they had in the grab. This usually meant that the aunt's got a candle and the uncles got a gallon of windshield washer fluid. Like I said, Nana taught us that it wasnt about gifts or money.....haha

I could go on, but I won't. I'd rather go play with my son, with whom I am home with today. I just wanted to stroll down memory lane for a moment, and see if Kris, Mom, Dad, or any of the other family who read this can remember anything I left out. Maybe I can get Sally Piles to write about her memories sometime...as I am sure they are just as rich. And this season, I hope to start making these special memories with my own son, with whom I am so blessed.

Christmas time is here.....

Isnt it funny how that track from "Charlie Brown Christmas" is so popular? I mean, its like the most melancholy-Tuesday-morning-in-March-and-its-raining kind of song (that is a hyphenated modifier, and its one of the "voice" skills one can integrate into their college essays...if one was a student in my class). But Amanda loves the CD, so I deal. God knows I give HER plenty to deal with. Yesterday was nice, and Amanda, Lynne, and Callum went shopping for Christmas decorations, and I met Eric at Bee's Diner (that's the place with the bridge, Uncle Bob). I get really happy when Lynne and Amanda spend time together, and I love Eric and I's tradition of Saturday morning breakfast. At night, we had the Garner's (first time I've written that) over for supper and a Christmas movie (although we talked after dinner, and never got to the movie part). So it was a good day.

This afternoon, the Goldsmith's made their way to Norrigewock to the Christmas tree farm to....well...pick out our Christmas tree. DUH!! After cutting down the tree, we took a swing about a half mile up the road to see the Lachapelle's--it was a nice visit!

I absolutely LOVE this picture. I think I might even put it on my facebook profile, even. I'd like to have it framed--Callum and I making our way down the "snowy trail of trees." You can even see the snowflakes falling. Awesome.

"I swear I'm going to find that egg roll"

or

"Callum, get back here"

or

"This is my impression of Jay...if the tree were made of Scotch"

This is a great "name the caption" contest picture. Please...be my guest.

But I was actually cutting down the tree......

....And finally got to say TIMBER, MO'FO!

Its a great tree, and, in the 5 hours its been in our house, has proven to smell better than any tree we've had. Its in the tree stand in the living room, drinking sugared water; but we havent decorated it yet--it needs time for the branches to "lay" first. Maybe we'll do it this week. At the farm, they have a little cabin/gift shop, and Amanda picked up some pine cones to put with her pine boughs and berries in the flower boxes outside our breezeway.

And I mean it when I say that, no matter how many pretty ornaments and lights we'll put on the tree..........

It will NEVER look as beautiful as it does right above.....

Oh, and Callum enjoyed his first candy cane.......

First Food

Callum "enjoyed" his first "bout" with people food (rice cereal) two nights ago. We waited a few days longer than we wanted to to give him the cereal, since he's been sick and all. Here's Callum getting the spoon for the very first time......





Contrary to how he LOOKS, he actually didnt hate it all that much; I just dont think he knew what to do with himself. He needs to learn the act of "slurping" the thin cereal off the spoon, as, for now, he "sucks" it as he would when he feeds on...um...other things. But, in true Goldsmith form (yeah right), he was a fast learner, and eventually wanted to eat it himself....


He looks absolutely gross when he's done--milky rice cereal all over his place. Undoubtedly, I need to get used to this, since soon it will be things like spaghetti sauce, squash, and crab rangoon!! But we've given him some more cereal since the first time, and he seems to learn a little more about eating each time--although, if he's anything like his dad, learning to eat wont take too long!

Hopefully by next week we'll try some squash and some butfor


Last night Lynne, George, Amanda, and I went to a fantastic show at the Waterville Opera House--"A Celtic Winter Sojourn" featuring a Cape Breton artist named JP Cormier. I opted to get tix for this instead of the Nutcracker this year, and it was a great decision! The music of the maritimes is so special to Amanda and I, since we honeymooned in Newfoundland, and the great island holds a special place in our hearts. Cormier and his accompanists (a superb multi-instrumentalist from Cape Breton, two fiddlers, and one other guitar player) produced an amazing soundscape of jigs, reels, and story-songs from places like Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick. Beautiful, energetic, emotional stuff....and virtually IMPOSSIBLE to sit without virtually STOMPING your feet to the beat. Instruments played included guitars, bazookies (sp?), fiddles, pipes, banjos, mandolins, and bass. We were so moved by the sounds that even me, Mister Miser, shelled out some shekels for one of the performer's CDs.

Oh, and yesterday was my 12th anniversary of remission from lymphoma. Woo-Hoo!

Really great discussions

I absolutely LOVE this book I'm reading/studying with some colleagues for our book discussion group. I wrote about it before--its called A WHOLE NEW MIND (its the one about how "right brained" and creative people will rule the future). I dont agree with all of his points, but many are fascinating. And I've been integrating into my own classes at school--particularly my creative writing seminar. He makes this point that, since we live in such a monetarily wealthy world, we really arent "wanting" for anything materialistic (he's talking about the "big" countries like China, US, India, etc...I'm sure he has no clue what happens in Chad or Belize or something) and that everything has essentially been "invented" by left-brained people. What is left to do, he argues, in order to survive in our capitalistically driven world, is create better DESIGN. Take music for example--modes in which we can listen to it change every day. First there were records. Then 8-tracks. Cassettes followed. Everyone thought CDs were the wave of the future, but they were to surely be replaced by "mini-discs." I polled my class the other day to see how many of them had a "discman." No one raised their hands, but they were all sure to hold up their MP3 players. The music doesnt change....the design does.

How did I integrate it into creative writing? Daniel Pink, the author, argues that there will finally BE these jobs for creative people (vs math, computer, or science people) in our right brained world. I asked my class: Just how many things in our left-brained world are VERY poorly designed? What could be improved upon? What NEEDS to be invented? What followed was awesome discussion, and I'm looking forward to continuing tomorrow. I started them off with some good examples of really poorly designed things. Consider:

-Traffic Rotaries: Virtual death traps. Live in Mass? Try merging into one of Augusta's new "three lane" ones.

-Barnes and Noble Parking Lot: You have to live near Disgusta, Maine to understand this one. The parking lot was seemingly designed by either a crack-baby, or a drunk frat guy POSING as an architect. It makes no sense. Lots of parking lots lack clear signs, lanes, etc.

-Basic Roads: How come the Romans designed roads that are still in tact today--THOUSANDS of years later--yet, each year, I sit in one-lane traffic while fat men fix the streets of my surrounding towns

-Newspapers: Think about it. J'ever try to read one of these things while eating at a table? They're extremely unwieldy, they fold in upon themselves, and they take up tons of room. The Boston Herald must have had some right brainers working in that office...it reads and folds like any regular old magazine.

-Presidential Election Ballots: Did you ever see these ridiculous labyrinths? Its no wonder all the retired Goldstein's, Freeman's, and Horowitz's living in Del Boca Vista had so much trouble voting. Can you imagine how American and world history would have been altered IF a right brained, creative artist was in the room when the Florida election committee designed their ridiculous ballots....and all the people who wanted to vote for Gore didnt mistakenly vote for Bush--just because they didnt understand the ballot. Look it up on line under Google images sometime. You'll see just how poorly designed this was....

NOW....examine the wonderfully designed items of this world--things that not only perform a FUNCTION, but also are aesthetically and emotionally pleasing....

-Cast Iron Skillets

-iPods

-Credit Card Art: This is a brilliant right-brained tactic. Dumb college kids (like myself when I feel for this) dont understand things like variable interest rates, percentages, etc. They like appearance. So, when I got my first credit card (a simple aqua-blue MBNA card, unadorned, with no picture on it), guess how fast I got rid of it when I got an offer from Capital One to choose from any 5 famous paintings to be superimposed on the card? I got a beautiful credit card embossed with the image of "Starry Night;"the tactic was so well designed that I almost didnt even notice the 21% interest rate on my purchases....To a lot of people, a credit card is a credit card...its free money, so what's the difference, right? Well, according to right brained people, a lot!

Its all about design. Help me and my class out....what, in today's world, is POORLY designed and needs to be improved upon? How would you do it?

Meanderings 43

Me making "Hop-Nog"--a special Christmas IPA--with Anthony....

Second Cousins: Callum and Brandon FINALLY meet each other for the first time. They got in their PJs at the same time....wicked cute. This was just before we hit the road for CT.

Just loungin' with my grampy....

If you're looking for Christmas ideas for Callum, may I ask that you refrain from getting him any "chins." Clearly, he has enough already.

1. Have you stopped lately to consider how many millions of dollars are being spent on the manufacturing, marketing, and purchasing of these new "green" and "reusable" bags for grocery shopping? I've seen them advertised in at least 2 pretty reputable store catalogs, toted as "Christmas Gifts." Isnt it so ironic that we're using so much NEW material and NEW natural resources to make these things? I mean, who doesnt have a million bags sitting around the house already? Now we have to go buy "special" ones to prove how green we are....

2. When a "business" offers a government any type of competition at all, they are referred to, from that point on, as a "cartel."

3. In the paper the other day there was an article about how female golfer Anika Sorensen (I know I spelled it wrong, but no golfer is worth the extra energy of looking up) is retiring this year. This begs a significant question: When golfers retire, do they then have more time to play golf?

4. As I watched Thanksgiving football with my family last Thursday, I smiled. Not because I was pleasantly satiated. Not because Amanda made pumpkin pie for dessert. I smiled because, no matter how many millions these overpaid steroid gluttons make, the fact of the matter is that they had to work that day....and I didnt.

5. On one of the dumb network news morning shows on "Black Friday," the anchor woman was interviewing another woman who was head of marketing for some toy company. This "toy representative" was showcasing all the HOT toys for this holiday season (BISCUIT the talking dog, Hanna Montana chainmail, etc.) What caught my eye was a little motorized truck designed SPECIFICALLY to stick to, and then drive on a ceiling. Upside down. I guess it comes with a step ladder so kids can climb up to the top....and they dont include batteries, but there is a 50 dollar voucher to cover the first 20 minutes you're at the emergency room. Do they hire anyone with brains anymore?

6. In a later segment on this "Black Friday" edition of the news morning show, the male anchor had a woman on who was some kind of "credit card insider," who knew all these secret things your credit card company would offer (freebies) as long as you asked--things like roadside assistance, identity theft stuff, etc. Her language was priceless: "Credit card companies offer these freebies...but only if you use your credit card for making purchases." As opposed to using it as an ice scraper for a windshield? What the hell is she talking about? What else do you use your credit card for?

7. Next story: Touting the deals one can get on black friday...but then describing how the REAL bargains begin on "Cyber Monday." I love this relatively new colloquialism. And it sounds like a special day when a bunch of "Dateline" pedophiles get together for a huge on line "chat." But "Cyber Monday," if you are unaware, is the day when ON LINE retailers see their biggest sales. The news morons all think its because people, by Monday, have had the chance to see the stores, and now want to see on line deals. Idiots. Yeah. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that folks are back to work after a long holiday weekend, are bored out of their mind, dont want to do any actual "work," and instead opt to surf the web all day.

8. And finally on this utterly thought provoking news program, there was a piece on the situation in Mumbai, and all the attacks appertaining to. The reporter remarked how "you can hear fresh gunfire down the street." Really? "Fresh" gunfire? Is this opposed to hearing gunfire that happened twenty minutes ago? Or do you mean as opposed to when folks record it on their Fisher Price tape recorders and broadcast all yesterday's gunfire over Bose speakers...in case you werent around to hear it the first time?

9. Tomorrow never comes. By the time tomorrow comes, its today.

10. We're always hearing and reading about lawsuits involving race discrimination, profiling, etc., and they usually make us laugh because of their stupidness (one black senator thought Hurricane names were too "white sounding," I take umbrage to Craparita's "Gringo Burger," etc.) That being said, I think someone should mount a lawsuit against advertisers for their "seasonable profiling" when they "market" Christmas. Better yet, why not sue Christmas? Yeah! Think about it: We're lucky to live in New England--the most beautiful part of the whole United States--and be subject to her seasons (for better or worse). All Christmas "scenes" in movies, shows, books, decorations, etc. convey this "New England Winter" theme of snow, cozy cabins, wood stoves, mountains, and ice skatable ponds. Just as they should. But, since we live in such a liberal and entitled country, I think its perfectly justified for some upstanding citizen in....let's say....Arizona or New Mexico....to sue Christmas for the way it "discriminates" against their weather patterns and biomes, by never including any Christmas scenes of Cactus plants or deserts....and never having Santa Claus chasing a tumbleweed down the road as he prepared to take off , etc. I mean, who says all Christmases have to have winters and fire and little chipmunks? If we're going to do this liberal entitlement thing, then let's do it all the way!